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"This book focuses on sub-region as a new social unit of international society. It is based on the findings obtained through meticulous fieldwork and joint studies conducted over the past 10 years by about 20 researchers, primarily from Japanese universities and Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The sub-regions described here are mostly international cross-border spaces or units in the interior of a certain region, which include: multiple states, states and parts of states, or more than two parts of states (often referred to as micro-regions). Such sub-regions have been formed in various parts of the world since the end of the Cold War. However, studies on sub-regions remain unexplored in the existing studies of regionalism. The few studies that do exist mainly focus on the economic aspects of sub-regions. In contrast, this book will specifically examine the sub-regions in Asia (especially the Mekong region and Europe) as main cases from a political science and international relations perspective, aiming to establish a new/alternative international relations by carving out a political angle of sub-region as a new social unit of international society and attempting to shift the paradigm of conventional international relations. To understand the political dimension of a sub-region, this book will mainly focus on three aspects: sub-regions and state strategies, bottom-up dimension of sub-regions, and sub-regions and borders"--

The rise of China is not only considered as an economic opportunity but also a security threat for the "East Asian" countries. China's increasing influence in the region has made the inclusive regional institutions no longer relevant because no party is able to match the economic and military power of China. Japan uses the momentum to initiate a new regionalism discourse that is more open by inviting extra-regional actors in East Asian regional institutions, as a counterbalance strategy against China.

Intro -- CONTENTS -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- The Contributors -- 1. Introductory Overview -- I. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement -- 2. The Origins and Evolution of TPP Trade Negotiations -- 3. The Political Economy of Joining TPP: The Case of Malaysia -- 4. China and the TPP: Reflections and Responses -- 5. Japan and Entanglement of Regional Integration in the Asia-Pacific: Combining Cutting-Edge and Traditional Agendas -- II. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement -- 6. RCEP Prospect and Challenges: Political Economy of East Asian Integration -- 7. Challenges Facing the RCEP Negotiations -- 8. From AEC to RCEP: Implications for the CLMV -- 9. RCEP: An Indian Perspective -- III. Regional Economic Integration: A Multi-stage Approach -- 10. AEC and ASEAN+1 FTAs: Progress, Challenges, and Future -- 11. CJK FTA Rat ionale, Prospects, and Challenges -- IV. Old and Emerging Approaches to Asia-Pacific Regional Integration -- 12. APEC at 25: Political Realities Realized -- 13. The TTIP, Megaregionalism and Asia -- 14. The Pacific Alliance: A Bridge between Latin America and the Asia-Pacific? -- V. Asia-Pacific Regional Integration: Towards Convergence? -- 15. APEC, TPP, and RCEP: Towards an FTAAP -- 16. The Implications of Mega-Regional Trade Agreements on the World Trade Organization -- Index.

Why have Asia's many projects in regionalism not been able to realize their stated goals, despite the fecundity of, and enthusiasm for, region-building initiatives over the last two decades? In an attempt to answer this question, this article identifies the pursuit of a holistic regionalism embodied in the desire for a regional community as a persistent goal in official discourse, and argues that an apparent state of frustration describes the difficulty of regional institutions and forums in bridging the growing gap between these articulated goals and actual outcomes. The empirical case for the argument here is provided by the founding of the East Asia Summit in 2005, which has disclosed the limits of both exclusive and inclusive models of regionalism in Asia. In exploring causation, the article argues that both structural and agential factors are at the heart of this problem. The tensions thrown up by the competing processes of realist and liberal-institutionalist order-building in Asia have imposed structural constraints on the ability of regional projects to realize their normative aspirations. Equally important in causing this state of frustration are the agents of regionalism - in particular, regional elites - who articulated the goal of a regional "Community" to propel regional projects, and have set the bar above the current capacities of regional institutions. (Contemp Southeast Asia/GIGA)

This€book explores the pressures currently influencing East Asian regionalist policy debates, analysing the trend towards deeper integration and the emergence of a governance model for managing regional processes.

The US, China and Japan are often portrayed as three giant states dominating the region of East Asia in perpetual potential conflict. This article proposes that such assessments should be tempered in the light of changing regional and global dynamics and, in particular, in view of the growing centrality of the region of East Asia itself for foreign policy agendas. Adopting a framework underpinned by the concept of strategic regionalism, this article focuses upon the developing collective identification of region, and assesses the possibility for joint leadership in East Asia.